Now combined into a single volume, these three brief history texts provide a concise and eye-opening overview of the history of the Middle East. Each is written by a leading expert, and all have been hailed as outstanding introductions for the general reader. These texts have been widely translated and adopted at universities in Turkey, Norway, Italy, and Germany, as well as throughout North America.

Heinz Halm's work presents a thorough and accessible discussion of the history, theology, and current state of this branch of Islam. Newly revised, "Shi'ism" includes updated information on the fate of the Shi'ite revolution in Iran as well as a new chapter on Iraq.

Observing a tradition more than 1000 years old, Shi'ites represent 10 percent of the Muslim population, or 100 million people. Halm explores how Shi'ism differs from the rest of Islam, discussing the prominence of its authorities, the Imams, as well as its legal system, practices of worship, places of pilgrimages, and a religious ethos characterized by a fervor to suffer for the cause.

Additionally, Halm provides a lucid survey of the various branches of Shi'ism, paying attention to their historical, organizational, and theological developments. The book also considers the appeal and impact of Imams in contemporary Shi'ism and their interpretation of the social and economic problems gripping the Islamic world.

Heinz Halm's work presents a thorough and accessible discussion of the history, theology, and current state of this branch of Islam. Newly revised, "Shi'ism" includes updated information on the fate of the Shi'ite revolution in Iran as well as a new chapter on Iraq.

Observing a tradition more than 1000 years old, Shi'ites represent 10 percent of the Muslim population, or 100 million people. Halm explores how Shi'ism differs from the rest of Islam, discussing the prominence of its authorities, the Imams, as well as its legal system, practices of worship, places of pilgrimages, and a religious ethos characterized by a fervor to suffer for the cause.

Additionally, Halm provides a lucid survey of the various branches of Shi'ism, paying attention to their historical, organizational, and theological developments. The book also considers the appeal and impact of Imams in contemporary Shi'ism and their interpretation of the social and economic problems gripping the Islamic world.

In the 9th century, a secret sect of the Isma'ilis -- known in the Middle Ages under the name of Fatimids -- arose to play a prominent role in the history of the Near East. Their supreme head today is the Agha Khan. In this mesmerising book, Heinz Halm describes the early history of the Fatimids, from the founding and spread of the secret society to the rise of the caliphal dynasty to power in North Africa and the founding of Cairo, their capital.

Now combined into a single volume, these three brief history texts provide a concise and eye-opening overview of the history of the Middle East. Each is written by a leading expert (The Arabs by Heinz Halm, The Ottoman Empire by Suraiya Faoqhi, and Iran by Monika Gronke), and all have been hailed as outstanding introductions for the general reader. These texts have been widely translated and adopted at universities in Turkey, Norway, Italy, and Germany, as well as throughout North America.

Heinz Halm is an internationally renowned scholar of the Middle East. The Arabs, Heinz Halm's masterful narrative, is now available in two versions: as a general reader and introductory text for college courses and, now, in an expanded version with a new 160-page annotated appendix of primary sources. The new source appendix, edited by Luke Yarbrough and Oded Zinger, greatly enhances the text's value for teachers as well as for general readers. Some 40 primary source readings--ranging from Spain to Iraq, from classical antiquity to the 2011 Arab Spring, and from poetry and scripture to medieval economics and travelogue--provide a classroom-ready component for courses in history, area studies, and religious studies. Several of the readings occur here for the first time in translation; all have been chosen to give vivid and representative accounts of the Arabs' history as told by those who experienced it. Taken together, they offer readers a glimpse into the vast, richly textured mosaic of texts that have been generated by and about the Arabs and encourage further exploration.

Dieses Werk stellt, gestutzt auf die umfangreiche biographische, geographische und historische Literatur der Araber, die Ausbreitung einer der vier orthodoxen Rechtsschulen des Islam von ihrem agyptischen Ausgangspunkt nach Bagdad, Nischapur, Zentralasien usw. und von diesen sekundaren Zentren in die umliegenden Gebiete dar. Untersucht werden die politischen Umstande der Verbreitung oder auch des Ruckgangs der Safi'iya in den einzelnen Gebieten, ihr Verhaltnis zu den anderen Schulen sowie die Verbreitung der as'aritischen Theologie innerhalb der safi'itischen Schule. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit gilt der Rolle, die die seit dem 5./11. Jahrhundert zu gildeahnlichen Vereinen verfestigten lokalen Rechtsschulen im sozialen und politischen Leben besonders der iranischen Stadte spielten. Das Buch enthalt Qadi-Listen fur die einzelnen islamischen Stadte und ein ausfuhrliches Register der literarisch bezeugten Schulgebaude (madrasa) aller vier Riten bis ins 7./13. Jahrhundert.

In den Werken zweier mamlukischer Autoren sind Verzeichnisse der Dorfer Agyptens mit Angaben zur Grosse, der Nutzflache, zum Steuerwert und zu den Besitzverhaltnissen uberliefert: bei Ibn al-Hi'an fur das Jahr 1376 sowie fur seine eigene Amtszeit als Chef der zustandigen Behorde (1477 bis 1480) und bei Ibn Tuqmaq fur die Zeit um 1395. Das gesamte Material dieser Quellen wird hier in nach Provinzen geordneten Ortsnamenlisten zusammengestellt. Die Eigentumer oder Lehensinhaber sind mit Hilfe der historischen Quellen - soweit moglich - identifiziert. Die Dorfer sind auf 20 Blattern kartiert. Ein umfangreicher Textteil fuhrt in die Grundbegriffe des agyptischen Katasterwesens ein und untersucht vor allem das Widerspiel zwischen der "Krone," dem Sultan und den Inhabern der grossen Militarlehen (iqta), das sich bei den in unregelmassigen Abstanden vorgenommenen Neuordnungen der Grundbesitzverhaltnisse krisenhaft zuspitzen konnte. Die von den Quellen reprasentierten drei Zeitebenen erlauben es, die Verschiebung besonders im Verhaltnis zwischen Kronland und Lehensbesitz im Einzelnen zu verfolgen und ermoglichen so aufschlussreiche Einblicke in die innere Sturktur des mamlukischen Staates.